Best Small Colleges That Are Easy to Get Into
Do you want a close-knit, nurturing college environment? College Consensus can show you where to find it with our ranking of the best small colleges. With our Top Consensus ranking of the 2022 Best Small Colleges, College Consensus turns the focus on the little guys – schools with 3000 students or less. The best small colleges in the US are not small in reputation, and they're not small in influence; in fact, some of the best small colleges in America are also among the most exceptional, with national and international recognition for their overall excellence.
Methodology: Ranking the Best Small Colleges
College Consensus rankings combine the results of the most respected college ranking systems with the averaged ratings of thousands of real student reviews from around the web to create a unique college meta-ranking. This approach offers a comprehensive and holistic perspective missing from other college rankings. Visit our about page for information on which rankings and review sites were included in this year's consensus rankings.
The Small Colleges category is limited to schools with 3000 undergraduate students or less. The Best Small Colleges are listed in descending order according to their College Consensus Score. Ties are ordered alphabetically.
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1745
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901
Last Accessed: March, 2022
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2399
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1437
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1821
Last Accessed: March, 2022
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1776
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
2155
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Last Accessed: March, 2022
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2836
Last Accessed: March, 2022
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1999
Last Accessed: March, 2022
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1983
Last Accessed: March, 2022
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1476
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1377
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
2409
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1918
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2552
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2651
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Full time undergraduates
894
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Full time undergraduates
1876
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
2457
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Full time undergraduates
2931
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1459
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1727
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Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1698
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
2457
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Full time undergraduates
1288
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1943
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2654
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2236
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Full time undergraduates
868
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Full time undergraduates
1892
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Full time undergraduates
2167
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Full time undergraduates
2160
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Full time undergraduates
1101
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Full time undergraduates
2307
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Full time undergraduates
1791
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Full time undergraduates
1103
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1333
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
2012
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1724
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Full time undergraduates
1414
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Full time undergraduates
1420
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1424
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Full time undergraduates
2714
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Full time undergraduates
966
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
2510
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1214
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
2080
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2496
Last Accessed: March, 2022
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1230
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Full time undergraduates
2308
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Full time undergraduates
1689
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Full time undergraduates
1338
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Full time undergraduates
1837
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Full time undergraduates
2627
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Full time undergraduates
2412
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Full time undergraduates
1275
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Full time undergraduates
2294
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Full time undergraduates
2030
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Full time undergraduates
1945
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
2853
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Full time undergraduates
1423
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Full time undergraduates
2822
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Full time undergraduates
382
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Full time undergraduates
1921
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Full time undergraduates
1119
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Full time undergraduates
1345
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1753
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
815
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1982
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1616
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1390
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
2249
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1915
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
2089
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Full time undergraduates
2424
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
2037
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Full time undergraduates
2195
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Full time undergraduates
2220
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Full time undergraduates
1655
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
2252
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1890
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1625
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Full time undergraduates
1075
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1403
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1845
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
2202
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
660
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1326
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1734
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1487
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
2534
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1082
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1264
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
2731
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
2001
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1764
Last Accessed: March, 2022
Full time undergraduates
1901
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Why Choose a Small College? Academics and Culture
First and foremost, there's a strong argument to be made for the academic advantages of a small college. Time and again, studies have shown that people learn more effectively in small classes; it's a fact that the top small universities have been touting for years. While, in a large university, you may find yourself in a gigantic lecture hall with hundreds of other students, too far away to even make out the professor's facial expression, in a small college you're likely to take classes with just a handful of people. That closeness means you get to know your classmates and instructors well, engage in meaningful discussion, and have the opportunity to have your questions answered directly.
Small classes at a small college also means a small student:faculty ratio – the number of students per faculty member. A professor at a large university can't get to know all of her students closely, much less work with them one-on-one; but at a small college, where they may be just 10-12 students for every professor, there's a greater opportunity for mentorship, guidance, and connection. In a small college, you're far more likely to have to chance, for instance, to work alongside a faculty member on a research project, or to find a professor who can give you personalized attention and help.
The culture of a small college is entirely different from the culture of a large college, too. That doesn't mean that the best small colleges don't have their rabid sports rivalries, or riotous fraternity parties (they definitely do). What it means is that it's much easier to form a close-knit community, one where students feel connected to the whole student body rather than just their clique or in-group. Small colleges can have other benefits, as well; with a small student body, they can pay more attention to amenities, so some of the best small colleges also offer the best college dining halls and the best college dorms in the nation. At a large college, students can often feel disconnected and lost; at a small college, students can feel more connected. A large university is where you go to school; a small college is where you live.
How Do We Rank the Best Small Colleges?
College Consensus isn't like any other college ranking agency out there. Bringing together the rankings of reputable sites like U.S. News & World Report, the Wall Street Journal, and WalletHub with the most trustworthy student review sites on the internet (including Niche, Cappex, and Unigo), College Consensus works to get the full picture. Instead of just focusing on one set of data, College Consensus is an aggregate ranking, combining all of a given school's published rankings for the Publisher Ranking, and adding in the testimony of students for the Student Rating. From those two numbers, we create the Consensus Rating, which we then use to rank schools in all sorts of combinations.
Our criteria for selecting the Best Small Colleges is fairly simple: these are the colleges and universities throughout the US that have student bodies of 3000 or less. That's an arbitrary cutoff, sure; plenty of large colleges are proud of their ability to give students an experience like a small college, and there's no particular reason a school with 3000 students is any different than a school with 4000 students. But the essential thing here isn't how many students there are – it's how the top small universities serve students in a special way. The Top Consensus Ranked Small Colleges put students first, providing the traditional college experience that leaves fond memories, lifelong friendships, and a sense of alumni pride that carries through for your 50th-anniversary reunion and beyond.
What's Different About the College Consensus Ranking?
While other rankings take the narrow view – whether it's strictly surveys of faculty, or reams of cold, hard data, or the perspective of students – College Consensus is the only college ranking organization that looks at the full range of published rankings and student reviews. That means we take all voices seriously, from the impartial experts to the students experiencing the real world of college on the ground. Other methods give an advantage to certain kinds of schools, especially the ones with the biggest marketing budgets and the most famous names, but College Consensus is interested in getting the fullest picture possible. Read more about our ranking methodology and sources on our about page.
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Source: https://www.collegeconsensus.com/rankings/best-small-colleges/
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